The weekend of le 11 Novembre, or Armistice Day, Marta and I decided to go to Lille. She's a lot more camera happy than I am (though that's really not saying much). So I decided to take a photo (almost) every time she one, and sometimes even when she didn't! Result: this post is going to (ideally) be more photos than text, but it's also going to be a lot of pictures.
Additionally, I am trying to stitch photos together, which is something I've never done before. After my disappointingly few photos from Le Gros Horloge, due mostly to how small the rooms were, and thus how difficult it was to capture all of anything, I've decided to play around with trying to line up photos and edit them together with the help of a computer.
So, here we go!
Pictured here: Marta, in a cafe that made me almost feel like I was in Portland. We got to Lille thanks to the train and thanks to covoiturage. We had to catch the train from Eu at 7h45, which meant a very early morning, and not much time for breakfast. That morning I did, however, wake up in tome to make myself two (tiny) cups of coffee. Proof that I am not a morning person: round two of coffee making, I forgot to put the coffee in the coffee maker. Needless to say, it was a rough start leaving Eu.
Here is the Monument aux Morts, outside of the Office de Toursime. The aftermath of the World Wars is so much more evident here in Europe (and especially in France) than it is in the states.
Roughly, the monument says:
"Civil Soldiers. The city has erected this monument to the end that over the course of the centuries we will be reminded of our children who died for peace. 1914-1918, 1938-1945."
Another photo-montage, this time of La Place Général de Gaulle. Although practically every town in France has a Place CDG (and there's an airport named after him!), this one is particularly meaningful because Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille, and thus lillios by birth.
The Théâtre du Nord, which is also on the Place CDG, farther to the right of where I took the photos sewn together above. We didn't have time (or money) to take in a show, but there are plenty of other opportunities to go to the theatre closer to home. (Other than The Sound of Silence, I've seen the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Hungary, and tomorrow am going to Amiens to see Rokia Traoré. December 6 I'm accompanying the school to see Anna Kaernine, a ballet performed by the Eifman Ballet Theatre of Saint Petersbourgh.)
Some bread, just hangin' out, bein' French, waitin' to be eaten...
Occupy Wall Street-ers in Lille. There was a drum circle, shouting, people making signs, and a general aura of solidarity emenating from their occupation.
BOOKS! This open square, l'ancienne Bourse de Lille (the old stock exchange), is now a breat book store. They had all sorts of everything, new, used, history, music, DVDs, comic books, fiction, art, posters, and loads more. It was open on Sunday, too, which is untrue of FNAC, the corporate book store located just a stones throw away from this book market.
Here is Notre Dame de la Treille, the seat of the Catholic Church in Lille. The image on the left shows one of the facades of the church, built according to neo-gothic traditions, while the image on the right shows a facade completed in 1999, which is much more modern and sobering in character.
Then we went for a walk along the perimeter/ramparts the old citadelle. Here is a picture of a birds eye view of the citadelle. It was quite charming. I could absolutely see myself living in Lille and going jogging here.
We came across something that resembled a fair or circus, and these faces had been carved into a fallen tree in the bordering woods.
Last photo for now: Ch'ti is one of the local beers. It's definitely closer to a Belgian beer, which I'm really not that into. Too sweet. BUT the bar/restaurant we went to had live jazz music (OMG how horribly have I been missing live music...), and the vertical rope you see is there because there were SWINGS at the bar.
Next time: the rest of our time in Lille, which includes photos from Le Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, and Le Tripostal, the contemporary art museum!
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